Machine for filling molds



NW. a, 1923.

L. MONTUPET MACHINE FOR FILLING MOLDS Filed July 12. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 177749 50/ 12100 Zupfl Nova 6, 1923.

L. MONTUPET MACHINE FOR FILLING MOLDS Filed July 12. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet Z Patented Nov. 6, 1923.

is srrss LEON MONTUPET, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

MACHINE FOR FILLING MOLDS.

Application filed July 12, 1922. Serial 1V0. 574,451.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, 'LliON MoN'rUrnT, citizen of the Republic of France, residing in Paris Seine, France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Filling Molds, of which the follmving is a specification.

The hand moulding process, which re quired great professional skill and affords but a limited output, has been replaced by machine moulding for the production of standard pieces. The sand molds require to be rapidly and properly made; the casting of the piece is a relatively easy matter, and in a Well formed sand mold the piece will be successfully produced, save for negligence or lack of skill. Cases will occur however with certain metals or alloys, in which the pieces can only be produced with difliculty.

In the process of moulding in metal molds it is also required in various cases to deal with. unexpected diificulties when casting by hand, for the mold is a good conductor of heat and the metal will thus be too rapidly cooled, and the air is sometimes given ofi in an incomplete manner. It thus becomes necessary to carry out manipulations which vary from one piece to another or a given piece from one operator to another; or for a given piece and operator, from one crucible full of metal to another.

The present invention relates to the substitution of machine moulding for hand moulding, the molds being filled in a reduced pressure or partial vacuum either by upward or downward flow of the metal, the mold being filled in both cases by the use of atmospheric pressure alone or by employing the additional pressure of a compressed gas.

Attempts have been already made to perform rapid the filling of molds with the melted metal by mechanical means, for example by casting under pressure, the pressure being obtained by actuating a piston or by the admission of compressed gas, but in this case the drawback consists in the fact that under the sudden impact of the poured Among the known pieces usually made of special alloys and designated in general by the terms character, hard metal, and the like.

The present invention provides for casting without accidental admission of air and in a partial vacuum, and its use is not limited to pieces of given size and shape; a great number of casting O)GI3.tlOI1 5 can also be performed in a slmple and rapid manner.

For this purpose the mold is placed on a well smoothed table and is covered by a tight bell-shaped member of suitable dimensions, a tight joint being obtained at the bottom by means of a flanged packing member made of a plastic substance which is partially fitted into the lower rim of the bell. This latter has at the top a circular aperture which is closed by flexible sheet metal forming a diaphragm; under the action of the vacuum produced in the bell, said diaphragm is caused to yield, and it thus serves to maintain the mold pressed down upon the table.

Various forms of construction may be provided for the latter purpose:

(a) The diaphragm may be caused to bear through the intermediary of a suitable block upon the mold wherein a difference of pressure causes the liquid to rise from a crucible placed below the table, whilst a, special device serves to out OK this column of metal at the proper time and in a suitable place.

(1)) In a modified form, on the contrary, the metal is contained before the casting operation in a feeding receptacle which is disposed upon the mold, to which it transmits the pressure exerted upon its edge by the flexible diaphragm when the latter is caused to yield. This will afford castings which in all cases exactly reproduce the mold and have a perfectly homogeneous composition. Y The accompanying drawings are given by way of example.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view I thesuction piping.

These three cases are set forth hereunder together with the particular features of each.

(a) The first description corresponds to,

The mold 1 is disposed on the table 2 and is covered with a bell-shaped member 3. There is provided in the top of the latter a circular aperture 4 which is closed by a flexible plate of sheet metal 5 secured at its edges to the bell 3 ,bymeans of the frame 6. A block 7' of suitable material is disposed below' said plate, and upon producing a, vacuum in the bell- 3- the said block is caused to bear upon the mold 1 so as to hold the latter in place. The bell 4: rests on the table 2 through the medium of a flanged rubber packing member 8 which is suitably secured thereto in an adequate recess as shown v,in Fig. 1, or by means of a separate attached piece. 4

The tube '9 connects the bottom of the mold with the crucible 10 and passes through the table 2 which supports said tube by means of a conical part properly centered in its seat by a cylindrical portion- 19 and more or less hollowed to allow expansion without deformation of the conical joint. A lever 21 serves to pivot the whole on the axis of cylinder 19; the tube 9' is eccentric in relation to the latter, and the top of said tube is movable in the base plate of the mold into which it extends to a slight degree, said plate being suitably recessed at 2 1. Said plate is mounted on thetable by means of studs 20, and is adjustable in height by the screws 22 in order to provide an easy friction joint of perfect character between the plate and the tube 9, at 24. v

For casting a piece, this screw adjustment is first made, then the mold is covered by the bell 3 whose height is made somewhat greaterthan the height of the latter. A

certain degree of vacuum is produced in the bell andthe crucible, and by its action the sheet metal piece 5v will yield, causing the block? to press the mold 1 upon the table 2; said packing member 8 which is made of a plastic. substancerwill tend to bear upon the table according to the degree of the vacuum, thus affording a periectly tight joint. All that is now required is to cause the metal to rise in tube 9 and pheric pressure--- into the crucible, and if necessary, a gas can be compressed therein.

As the metal rises it,drives out the rarefied air, but by reason of the slow motion it will in no wise form an emulsion with the air, as usually happens, and it comes into exact contact with the walls of the mold by the effect of the vacuum prevailin in the belL- When the mold has been fille the lever 21 is used to. pivot the tube 9 on the axis of its conical part thereby cutting off the column of metal whose lower portion now returns to the crucible as soon as the gas in the latter is allowed to expand and air is admitted under the bell, the latter being raised, and the piece then is removed from the mold.

(b) In the first modified form of construction corresponding to Fig. 2, like parts are used such as mold 1, table 2'and bell 3; the latter is also provided with the aperture ,4 which in this case is covered by a flexible sheet metal piece 5 forming a diaphragm and suitably shaped so as to constitute a vertical hollow cylinder 12 adapted to surround the feed receptacle 13 which is so placed on the mold that the outlet 14 of the former coincides with the inlet of the passage 15 of the latter. The angle pieces 16 secured to cylinder 12 at the top of the same provide for the tight closing of the vmold 1, and to this end one admits atmos- V hell by co-operating with the edges of the receptacle 13. A plug with shank 17 serves to close the outlet 14 at the beginning of the operation, the same being opened at the proper time; said device may be replaced by a suitable punching point which serves to puncture at a given moment a disc made of thin metal formed by the pressing process andfittingon the' e'dges-of the *outletl14, said disc being faced with an insulating substance should it be formed of the same metal as the piece to'be cast. -A pipe 18 passes through the table and opens into the bell 3, whereby the suctioncan be eifect-ed' in the same.

To proceed with the moulding of a metal piece. the mold 1 is placed on the table 2, and the receptacle 131s so disposed that the openings Hand 15 will coincide, then the bell 3 is placed upon the whole; the cylinder- I the melted meta into the nevaaae out' departing fromthe principle of the invention, for example instead of producing the vacuum by direct suction of the air con- 1 being provided with an opening, a flexible the diaphra diaphragm 1' covering said openin and adapted to bear on said mold for forclng the same toward the work table, a supply conduit for furnishing the material to be moulded, to the mold, and means for withdrawing air from said bell in order, to cause to bearon the mold. 2. Amoul gapparatus including-awork table, a mold arranged on said work. table and provided with an inlet, a bell restindg on the work table and enclosing said mol means for withdrawing airfrom said bell, a conical seat provided on said table, a supply pipe having a conical extension adapted to en said seat, the axis of said supply pipe being eccentrically arranged relatively to the axis of the conical extension, the outlet of said supply pipe beingadapted to register with the mold inlet when the supply pipe is in a certain position, and means for rotating said supply pipe'about the'axis of the conical extension, in order to cause the outlet of the supply pipe to be moved out of register with the inlet of said mold.

3. A moulding. apparatus including a work table having a conical seat arranged therein, a mold resting on said table above the conical seat, a detachable bell enclosingsaid mold and having packing at its lower edge adapted to form; a hermetical seal with said table, means for creating a vacuum within said bell, an' inlet for said mold, a supply pipe arranged beneath the table and having a conical extension adapted toengage the conical seat, a movable diaphragm forming part of said bell and adapted to be mfluenced by the vacuum created in thefbellto cause the mold to be forced toward the table and toward the outlet of the supply ipe, and. a crucible arranged below the ta lo and communicating with the inlet of said supply pipe for furnishing the material to the mold.

' In witness whereof Lafix my signature.

LEON MONTUPET. 

